Whitney High School New Student Orientation Demonstration
Date: August 29, 2013
Time: 9:10 - 10:50 A.M.
# of Members: 12
The NSO demonstration was held at Whitney High School, and there were about two hundred students. The WHS Robotics FIRST LEGO League (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and VEX Robotics Challenge (VRC) teams were all there. The purpose of the event was to publicize to the incoming Whitney students what the Robotics club is all about. Also, it was a way the club could encourage students to join the club during the school year. The event was organized with each team in a different part of a classroom. There was a total of 6 groups that had about twenty-five to thirty students in each group. Each demonstration lasted about 10 minutes and members answered students’ questions.
For the FLL part of the exhibition, we let the students see the autonomous robot from last season and run a few of the missions we programmed. Some of the team members from previous years had programmed a remote control using an NXT brick and two touch sensors as a way for students, children, or even parents to play around with the robots for a hands on experiment. There were many faces that were intrigued with the idea of being able to program a robot to do specific tasks around a field. For those who did not look quite as interested, there were other team members who explained the research part for FLL only.
For the FTC and VRC exhibitions, there was an area where the students could see how the robot could be driven around using a remote controller. The field for the game from last season was set up and the drivers of the team controlled the robot. The students were able to see how using metal pieces and screws and some motors could accomplish such simple tasks that humans can do easily. We also had a table where students could take brochures of previous research projects, FIRST handouts, and RoboCamp applications for the summer.
Suggestions for improvement would be to make the event more organized. The main thing that the students remembered from the demonstration was driving the robot around. Most of the time the members were only able to show the robot, and did not get to talk about the research portion as much and none of the core values were mentioned. There should be an even emphasis on the robot, research and core values portion of being part of the club.
Time: 9:10 - 10:50 A.M.
# of Members: 12
The NSO demonstration was held at Whitney High School, and there were about two hundred students. The WHS Robotics FIRST LEGO League (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and VEX Robotics Challenge (VRC) teams were all there. The purpose of the event was to publicize to the incoming Whitney students what the Robotics club is all about. Also, it was a way the club could encourage students to join the club during the school year. The event was organized with each team in a different part of a classroom. There was a total of 6 groups that had about twenty-five to thirty students in each group. Each demonstration lasted about 10 minutes and members answered students’ questions.
For the FLL part of the exhibition, we let the students see the autonomous robot from last season and run a few of the missions we programmed. Some of the team members from previous years had programmed a remote control using an NXT brick and two touch sensors as a way for students, children, or even parents to play around with the robots for a hands on experiment. There were many faces that were intrigued with the idea of being able to program a robot to do specific tasks around a field. For those who did not look quite as interested, there were other team members who explained the research part for FLL only.
For the FTC and VRC exhibitions, there was an area where the students could see how the robot could be driven around using a remote controller. The field for the game from last season was set up and the drivers of the team controlled the robot. The students were able to see how using metal pieces and screws and some motors could accomplish such simple tasks that humans can do easily. We also had a table where students could take brochures of previous research projects, FIRST handouts, and RoboCamp applications for the summer.
Suggestions for improvement would be to make the event more organized. The main thing that the students remembered from the demonstration was driving the robot around. Most of the time the members were only able to show the robot, and did not get to talk about the research portion as much and none of the core values were mentioned. There should be an even emphasis on the robot, research and core values portion of being part of the club.